The Many, The Few, and Those Inbetween
by WaterGirl14
Summary: Islands? Cults? Love triangles? Whoever said that ghost powers would lead to THIS mess!
1. Landing Hard

_Don't look into the shadows, for you will see them. _

_Don't walk the deserted streets alone, for they will see you. _

_They are an ancient evil from before the great Egyptians walked the earth. _

_They have haunted humanity since there was the first sliver of malice in the world. _

_They strive to rid the world of the tainted people; the unjust; the ones who are unfit to live among us. _

_They do not realize that we are all tainted. _

_Every single one of us. _

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PART ONE: Ghost Island

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Chapter One: Landing Hard

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A deserted island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean; covered in lush vegetation and various wildlife. All is tranquil. In the middle of the island is a large freshwater oasis. There are cliffs and mountains along the south side of the island, jungle to the north, sand to the east, and a river to the ocean on the west. But there is more to the island than meets the eye.

The island is for ghosts; those that are too dangerous to keep in either the Ghost Zone or among the humans on Earth. It is the in-between place. Once there, you cannot escape, unless you know the way out.

Few do.

Which comes to the beginning of the story. On the east side of the island, where the water first laps up onto the sand, there is a bright green light. From that light three familiar figures are tossed, with no cares as to where they land. They hit the sand and roll a ways before coming to a stop. The green portal vanishes behind them as quickly as it came.

The first one sits up, coughing. He is a young teenager, with scruffy black hair. As he looks up and blinks you can see his crystal blue eyes set in a rather handsome face. The boy brushes sand off of his white t-shirt, of which is decorated with red stripes on the hem and sleeves, and a red circle on the chest. Then he stands, and does the same to his jeans and sneakers.

The boy's name is Daniel Fenton, more commonly known as Danny. Though his frame is somewhat scrawny and he looks innocent and child-like, he harbors dark secrets that are hard to keep. One of these secrets is that Danny is part ghost, due to a freak accident involving a ghost portal. As of yet it hasn't been explained, but Ghost DNA was somehow transferred into him.

"Where the heck am I?" Danny asked, confused. The sight of the island was beautiful, yet frightening. Looking in one direction you could see only water, but to turn and look in the other direction all you could see was sand. If you squinted you might be able to make out the forms of trees and mountains in the distance.

There was movement and a groan from his right. Danny looked, barely turning his head.

One of his two companions shook her head, blinking a couple times. She stretched a hand over her eyes to block out the searing June sun that illuminated the island. Her top and skirt were starting to become hot, and for the first time in her fourteen years she contemplated wearing some color other than black. She pushed herself to her feet, a frown playing across her features.

"Sam," Danny said, walking over. "Do you know where we are?"

Samantha Manson, or Sam, as Danny had called her, shook her head, sending particles of sand flying from her jet-black hair. "Not a clue," she replied. She turned her head to the right, then the left, observing the area. "Where's Tucker?"

Danny gestured behind him with his head. Tucker Foley, the African-American boy, was sprawled on the ground and picking up his PDA, cell phone, and laptop. Sam rolled her purple eyes at this. The technology always came first, didn't it?

Tucker pushed his glasses farther up on his nose and looked down at the screen of his PDA with confusion. "I don't get it," he said to his friends. "I can't tell where we are."

"That's good news," Sam dead-panned, crossing her arms. She and Danny walk behind Tucker to look at the screen of the small gadget.

"We're here," Tucker said, pointing to a blinking red dot in the middle of what was marked as the Atlantic Ocean. "But the map says that we're floating in seawater. The island doesn't exist."

Danny knelt down and grabbed a fistful of sand, letting it run through his fingers to the ground. "It looks pretty real to me."

As they were looking at each other with bemused expressions, a large shadow fell on them. They simultaneously looked up.

-----

As this was going on, another green light appeared on the south side of the island. Flung out of this portal were only two figures, a boy and girl. As they hit the hard ground their faces and hands were scratched and bruised, and they cried out in sudden pain.

The boy was dirty blonde and had very messy hair. His eyes were dark blue, very close to black. He was not very tall, but appeared to be about 5 feet. His red shirt and jeans were ripped against a rock as he had fallen to the ground.

The girl was on the ground, in the fetal position and holding her arm. She dug her fingernails into the skin with a wince, but as the hand glowed blue her face contorted into one of severe pain. With a sharp intake of breath, she let go of her previously bleeding arm, revealing dried blood and a scar. The girl wiped at her face.

Her skin was Mediterranean, her eyes and hair both the same shade of dark brown. There were miniscule streaks of blonde and red in her hair that gave a faint sparkle. She wore a black top with a white line around the bust, and jeans, with orange lacing down the side.

"Chaiya," the boy asked, scuttling over. "Are you all right?" She nodded.

"Yeah, Neil, I'm fine. Have you seen my glasses?" She looked up at him as he shook his head.

"Sorry, no."

"Darn."

Chaiya leaned on Neil's shoulder, and the thirteen-year-olds both stood. The girl rested her very small figure against her friend, squinting as she searched for her glasses. A brown line appeared beneath her, but with her very bad vision she could not tell what it was. She bent down to grab it, a necklace falling out of her shirt and dropping towards the ground, stopped by only a chain.

As her hands closed around the object she recognized the feel as that of her glasses and hurriedly pushed them onto her face. The world became clear and Chaiya emitted a sigh of relief.

The problem at hand solved, both teens looked around at their surroundings. They were up very high on a mountain top, and had an overview of an island. From where they were, it had the look of a deformed four-leaf clover, and they were standing on the stem. Neil perceived it to be about two by two miles. They could see mountains surrounding them, and then a very steep drop-off 3/4 of a mile away from them.

After that drop-off was a large pool of water, that was glistening in the bright sunlight. To their right they saw a vast area of sand, at least a mile wide. Past both the water and the sand was a jungle, as big, if not bigger, than the desert area. To their left they saw a system of cave some out of the steep drop, then a river leading from the lake-sized pool to the ocean. Branching off of the river was what appeared to be a stream, but in reality must have been huge. The stream led to a smaller inlet of water.

It was all breathtaking, and for a while the two just stared. But after a moment, Chaiya realized something.

"Jen?" She asked, looking around suddenly. Neil kept watching, oblivious. "_Jen_?" Chaiya said more urgently, running over to where the mountain they stood on began to steeply angle down.

"JEN!"

-----

Rose struggled against the death hold of the vines that held her. It was dark; the trees were so densely packed around her, and silent. A bird called far-off, only adding to her apprehension.

"Help!" She called in a southern tone out into the forest. Was she expecting an answer? No, but she could hope. The leaves and twigs were caught in her jet-black hair, and her red eyes were starting to well up with angry tears. "Is anyone out there?" She asked, glaring.

Suddenly there was a horrible crack, and she came crashing through the brush with a very loud scream. The last thing Rose knew was the sensation of falling, and then the world was black.

-----

The whimpering in the area was a stark contrast to the eerie and complete silence of the grassy knoll. A small child, perhaps only 8 or 9, was crouched on the ground, shivering. She held her hands over her head with fear and was hardly aware of her tranquil surroundings. The wind picked up slightly and made a whirling noise as it passed through the grass. The young girl let out a cry and ducked her head.

She missed her mother, and her father, but mostly her sister. She didn't know where she was and the girl felt too frightened to move. A memory of her parents telling her to stay where she was if she ever got lost came to her, but she was panicked. As the wind picked up once more she let out a scream and bolted across the grasses.

There was a wooded area off in the distance. As she ran at breakneck speed, running on pure fear and adrenaline, she whipped past a tree. It caught her sleeve, and as she struggled to get loose the fabric ripped. As soon as she was free from the branch she dashed away.

-----

The three teens looked up at the cause of the shadow. They could not believe their eyes when they saw a dragon. Yes, a dragon. The creature stood on his hind legs much like a human, and had his front legs crossed like arms.

It had a long, rectangular head that ended in a sort of rounded point. At the top of its head were two green horns, spiraling inward and about a foot in length. The eyes of the dragon were red with black pupils. It stood about six feet tall, but from head to tail was probably twice that. The dragon was a blue-green color, and has a green underbelly. His claws were green, sharp, and specked with ectoplasm. There were five fingers on each of his feet. On the right arm of this dragon was a gold brace with a strange red mark. The mark was also located on his forehead. Curled around the dragon's body were two light blue wings of great length. And along the dragon's back, down to its tail, was a green ridge of plates.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker gulped simultaneously.

"Hello children," the dragon said in a deep, menacing voice. "What brings you to Ghost Island?"


	2. Danger

_We all want to believe in black and white_

_We all want to know that somewhere in this world there is closure_

_We all want to go to bed at night knowing we are being fought for_

_We all want to escape our pasts_

_We all are fools_

--

Chapter Two: Danger

--

Danny's first reaction was to jump backwards away from this towering thing in of him. His second reaction was to jump in front of Sam and Tucker to protect them. Unfortunately for the three, both reactions happened at the same time, resulting in Danny landing on top of his two friends and sending them tumbling onto the sand in a tangle of limbs.

The dragon cocked an eyebrow (or something along those lines, to Danny it looked like he just had a ridge of darker scales over his eyes) as he stared down at the trio. Clearly he was intelligent, and not at all amused.

Danny phased himself through Sam and Tucker rather awkwardly, hopping up and going ghost at the same time. "Get back scaly! You're not touching my friends!"

The dragon crossed his (his? Could anybody really tell? Well, he certainly came across as a "he...") arms with a dangerous look. Danny held fast, though, and in the palms of his hands were green balls of energy.

Said the dragon, "Calm down, kiddo, I'm not here to hurt you." He sighed. "In fact, I don't plan on hurting anyone anytime soon."

The blasts faded away, and Danny dropped to the ground. "Come again?"

The dragon let out another, dejected sigh. "I shall ask you again, children. Why are you here?" His previous emotions back, the dragon fixed an eye on each of them in turn.

"We're not supposed to be here!" Tucker said quickly. "We were just minding out own business at the Nasty Burger, when suddenly there was this light that sucked us in--and just us, too. And then we were here."

"Yeah," Sam added. "It was all so sudden, I didn't get a chance to finish my salad or anything."

"Where are we?" Danny said, looking around for the moment. It was just a beach! Why would there be a dragon on a beach? Even if it wasn't on the map...

The dragon gazed at them again. "You want answers. I'll give them to you." He looked up to the sky, and inwardly, Danny groaned. He hated having to sit through stuff like this. Oh well. At least he wasn't getting beaten up. In fact, this ghost seemed almost friendly.

"My name is Gildemeir D. Gildera." He seemed to raise up in height slightly, become even more foreboding. "I am the warden of Sector 3 in the Ghost Zone, and this--" He indicated the ocean around him, "--is Ghost Island, where we send the most dangerous ghosts."

The trio exchanged dubious glances.

"Wait a second." Sam tapped a finger to her temple. "You're a warden? You run a ghost prison?" At the dragon's nod, she glared. "So you're probably here to lock Danny up, just like Walker, right?"

The ghost closed his eyes, looking quite weary. "Not quite."

--

She literally flew over the edge of the gorge, transforming as she dropped to the ground. The crystal on the necklace had turned a sickly shade of blue, but perhaps that was only a trick of the light. It glowed brightly, then with a flash light exploded over Chaiya's body. It all happened in seconds, but as the light passed over her clothing it changed to a teal suit--covering every inch of her body except for her neck. The sleeves were striped black and white, and the pants had little black circles at the ankles that most likely conncected to the black boots she now sported. Her hair had turned the same shade of teal. In her hair was a matching hairclip and an earring on her left ear with a dangling teal jewel. The suit had a luminescant quality, and soon it began to shimmer with the same sickly blue as the crystal.

Ignoring Neil's yells and screams, Chaiya allowed herself to drop faster and faster, until suddenly she came out of the dive and tore off through the brush, level to the ground.

Back on top of the cliff, Neil slapped his palm into his nose. "Not again." And then, he jumped off as well.

It was not quite as spectacular a change, to be certain, but then Neil was gifted in a different sense. It was rather like his clothing had ignited, but instead of being engulfed in flame, another outfit was burning through. The outfit was designed like a flame--red and orange, with blue and white near the bottom, all transitioning so smoothly you could hardly guess when one color became another. His hair was also enflamed in red coloring--almost like it had been dyed instantly. When Neil followed Chaiya's worried path, it was twice as fast.

Yes, it was true. The teenagers were gifted with powers. But why?

--

When she awoke, it was to screaming and pounding footsteps on the ground. Her head ached--perhaps that was why her senses seemed superhuman. Rose reacted only on instinct to the blurry figure racing past her, dangerously close to her head.

Instinct dictated that she trip the creature, apparently.

With a loud screech, the blob tumbled onto the foliage around her. Rose jumped up, ignoring a very sharp pain in hger side, and began cautiously walking towards the thing. The girl's fingers twitched as she drew a short knife out of it's casing--borrowed from a friend for the time being. Her heart beat fast as she apporached the figure, which was surprisingly small, covered in dirt, and...crying?

Something was wrong here.

Rose had never come across any enemy that curled itself into the fetal position and started crying that was also dangerous. The figure was shaking with very audible, very high-pitched sobs and was wearing torn clothing stained with grass and dirt, and maybe a little bit of blood. It had to be a child, and it was rare that a crying child turned out to be dangerous--especially since it seemed to be human.

She put the little knife away, crouched upon the ground, tapped the shaking, dirt-covered ball. "Are you all right?"

Big, scared brown eyes stared back at her.

"Where am I?"

It was a girl's voice, and she spoke perfect english. Under the dirt, Rose almost recognized her.

But, she couldn't answer either the girl's question or her own. That sudden, ominous rumbling was more pressing. The teenager's eyes darted to the ground. Loose dirt was bouncing. That probably wasn't good. Well, the girl was dark enough--maybe she was a native in the area?

Well, that would make that sound the army coming to reclaim her. And besides, the child didn't know where she was. Her skin tingled with danger. Behind Rose, there was a thick wall of trees. In front of her, a slightly less thick wall of trees. Whatever was making the mini-earthquake was coming from in front of them, and it had to be pretty big.

"Get behind me," Rose cautioned. She could question later. Dying would be bad.

The shadow that fell over them might have been larger than the actual creature, but by that point, she didn't think anything other than _Oh. My. God._

The little girl screamed.

--

"I am here," Gildemeir was saying, "Because I have been sent after a very dangerous ghost that has escaped from my prison." He was staring out at the ocean, probably not seeing any of it. "This ghost has moved to the island. We think it's so that he can free all the ghosts here and amass an army."

The teenagers frowned.

"Would he be going after Amity Park, Mr. Gildera?" Danny asked immediately.

"Yes," said the dragon. "He would go through Amity Park to get to the rest of your world." He smiled, but it only made him look sick. "Not that there's much of a world out there anyway."

Sam huffed. Gildemeir laughed genuinely.

"But the atmosphere is so dreary! I hate people being bummed out like this." The change was sudden--it seemed that the dragon was a very happy fellow most of the time; it fit him much better. "Please, kids, call me Gil. Not any of that Mr. Gildera stuff. It makes me feel old."

"Can we call you Gilly?" Tucker joked.

The very deadly "No" shut him up.

Sam shook her head. Boys. "I take it we'll be camping out here for a while, then?" A nod. "And there's no way for us to get home?" Another nod. "Then we'll have to make a camp somewhere."

"You must be the smart one," Gil said jovially.

"That would be Sam for you," Danny quipped. Sam turned slightly pink.

"She's right. We must find a campsite. Near fresh water. I don't need to drink, but you three do." He turned away from them, the spikes on his back catching the sun. "I smell lakewater. This island must be rather large." Floating away a few feet, he seemed to realise something. "You know," he said as he turned around, "You never actually told me your names."

Why ask? He knew already. But it helped to keep up the facade.

"I'm Danny Fenton," said the halfa. "This is Sam Manson and Tucker Foley."

"Nice to meet you, kids. Now, let's get on that--"

And then, something slammed into him.

An oof, a "Man, are you ok?" and three "Woahs" later, something else slammed into him going faster.

The dragon, and his new additions, tumbled into the brush, and with only a short glance, the teenagers took off after him.

--

_Eons ago it was just another rock formation_

_Eons ago it was only some volcanoes erupting and cooling rapidly_

_Eons ago ghosts were not shipped here to live out their afterlives without being able to hurt, maim, kill_

_Eons ago there weren't shields around the island preventing escape_

_Eons ago ghosts were generally pleasant, if not lost_

_Eons ago humans weren't around to meddle_

_Eons ago ghosts and humans were separated_

_But then, eons ago, there were no humans_

_But then, eons ago, there were fewer ghosts_

_But then, eons ago, there was less evil_


End file.
